Isolation

Chapter 12

Back at the camp, James was looking at the damage from the outside of the ship with Vera. There were heavy scratches underneath with a few tears in the metal hull.

"That's not good," she said. "The engines could have been punctured by the fall. I won't know how bad they are until I get inside and look."

"These ships are supposed to be tough," James said. "How did it get so damaged in the fall?"

"The TransArks have two systems that are supposed to activate during re-entry. One, the parachutes on the back are deployed to slow the ship's descent. Two, the ship's coolant system reduces the heat being absorbed into the metal. One of the parachutes ripped and made us spin out of control. The coolant was supposed to kick in when the ship started getting too hot. When the power went out, it must have reset the system before it could activate. The metal got too hot and made it warp when it hit the trees. This thing isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

"The heat got too high, and my dad turned into barbeque."

"Too bad it wasn't his stomach, or we could have some fresh ribs."

James gave her a look. Vera's smiled fell.

"I was trying to lighten the mood. Sorry. I'm also kinda hungry."

"Yeah, me too."

Whoops erupted from the other side of the ship. James shook his head.

"Sounds like they're having fun," Vera said.

"They should be looking for food and water," James said. "Getting a fire going or something."

"Relax, Lando. They're just excited to be on the ground. Aren't you?"

"No, not really," he said. "Our home just got destroyed. What's so exciting about that?"

"You don't realize, do you? We were imprisoned on the colony. To us, the evacuation was a blessing."

"What were you in prison for?"

She looked at him.

"Does it matter? Look at where we are. This is a fresh start. We can finally live how we want to. No rules. No colonial laws."

She laughed. "We're free!"

James didn't see it that way. They just barely survived a mass genocide, and they want to prance around like pixies in a magical garden.

"There's no food. No water. No electricity. The excitement won't last long."

"Come on. Live a little. What, do they scare you or something?"

"When they start getting hungry, that's when it gets scary. Hungry people become irrational. When that happens, the Drax are the least of my worries."

He walked away. She had to admit, he wasn't as dumb as she initially thought. Maybe intellectually poor, but he understood people. She touched a scratch on the hull and put her hands on her hips.

"This could take a while," she said.

On the other side, James checked on his father with Judy.

"How's he doing?"

"Since you asked me ten minutes ago," she said, "his condition hasn't changed."

He looked over at the group of teenagers. Some of them were sparring with the branches they had found. They were not skilled, but it seemed to entertain them. Aiden was smiling with his arms crossed. He was enjoying all of it.

"Look, don't worry about them," Judy said. "Everything is still new. Your dad is the farthest thing from their mind."

He shook his head. "I just don't like it."